Morgan Stanley (MS) stock analysis
Morgan Stanley (MS) clears 8 of this site's 8 mechanical value filters, 6 of 8 Buffett-style checks and 3 of 5 Lynch-style checks. A free-cash-flow DCF does not fit financial services companies, so no margin of safety is shown. It returns +1.6% to shareholders net of dilution. Figures are as of October 23, 2026, from SEC filings and market data refreshed weekly; this is educational analysis, not investment advice.
Data as of October 23, 2026. Refreshed weekly from SEC filings and market data.
What does Morgan Stanley do?
Morgan Stanley is an investment bank and wealth manager: it advises on deals, trades securities and manages client assets through a very large network of financial advisors.
Brands and businesses it owns
- E*Trade
- Eaton Vance
- Morgan Stanley Wealth Management
What stands out about Morgan Stanley?
- No filter fails. MS passes 8 of the 8 value filters. See every filter.
- Strongest against peers: dividend yield. At 2.36% (peer median 1.56%) it ranks 10th of 33 among financial services stocks this site tracks. See the ranking.
- Dividend raises 2 of 6 flags. Its trailing yield is 2.36%. See the Sustainable Dividend Screener.
- Revenue grew 26.7% a year. From $7.0 billion in fiscal 2016 to $59.1 billion in fiscal 2025, from its own 10-K filings.
How has Morgan Stanley's share price moved?
The interactive price chart needs JavaScript.
Is Morgan Stanley undervalued? The value diligence check
Every value-investing signal this site computes for this stock, gathered in one place: the same real numbers from the tools below, not a new score.
- Margin of safety (DCF) n/a (Financial Services)
- P/E vs. its own history 14.1x · the middle Real range: 11.8x–16.9x over 5 years (net income per diluted share from each fiscal year's 10-K, paired with the real closing price at that fiscal year-end).
- Wall St. analyst rating Buy · 3.82/5 33 analysts this month: 8 strong buy, 13 buy, 11 hold, 0 sell, 1 strong sell (Finnhub). Up from 3.79 last month.
- Altman Z″-Score (bankruptcy risk) n/a (Financial Services)
- Earnings quality (is the profit real?) n/a (bank, insurer or REIT)
- Shareholder yield (cash back to owners) +1.6% net Latest fiscal year (2025): dividends 2.3% + buybacks 0.0% − stock comp 0.7%, as a share of today's market cap. Over 14 years its split-adjusted share count fell 5%. See Shareholder Yield Leaders.
- Capital needed to grow (See's test) n/a (bank, insurer, lender or REIT)
- PEG (growth at a reasonable price) 1.37 · Above fair P/E 14.1× ÷ 10.3% a year of growth behind it. 145th lowest of 447 stocks with a usable PEG. Lynch's fair value is a PEG of 1; a very high PEG usually means almost no growth, a very low one a profit spike. See PEG Ratio Ranking.
- Compounder lenses (4) 2 of 4 · misses capital-light (n/a), real profit (n/a) Capital-light growth: cannot be measured (bank, insurer, lender or REIT); Profit is real: cannot be measured (bank, insurer or REIT); Cash to owners: cleared; Fair price (PEG): cleared. See Compounders at a Fair Price, which also lets you move the PEG bar.
- Munger's Inversion Check 0 flags
- Standing vs. sector peers 2 of 4 measures above the median Compared with the 39 other financial services stocks this site tracks: 1 in the top third, 0 in the bottom third.
- Dividend payout sustainability 2/6 flags
How does Morgan Stanley compare with its peers?
2 of 4 measures sit above the median of the 39 other financial services stocks tracked here, 1 in the top third.
- P/E ratiolower is cheaper · peer median 21.7× 14.1× –14th of 37
- Return on equityhigher is better · peer median 18% 18% –22nd of 40
- Net marginhigher is better · peer median 20.2% 15.6% –24th of 40
- Dividend yieldamong dividend payers · peer median 1.56% 2.36% ✓10th of 33
Peers are the stocks this site tracks in the same sector group, not every listed competitor. The bar runs from the weakest peer (left) to the strongest (right); the tick is the middle. Measures that don't apply to a sector (cash-flow yield for banks, debt for financials) are left out.
What would Buffett & Lynch say?
Buffett's checklist is built around durable, profitable businesses bought at sensible prices, and MS doesn't clear enough of it yet. In its favor: MS is currently earning a strong return on shareholders' equity, and has kept that profitability up over five years, not just this year, converts sales into profit at healthy margins, has grown earnings per share at a solid clip over five years, is trading below what a conservative discounted-cash-flow estimate says it's worth - his own "price is what you pay, value is what you get" test, not a fixed multiple ceiling, and trades at a reasonable multiple of owner earnings, his own term for the real cash a business could pay out. Where it comes up short: MS carries more debt relative to equity than he typically tolerates, and doesn't cover its interest expense as comfortably as he'd want.
- ROE (TTM) > 11% ✓
- ROE (5yr avg) > 11% ✓
- Debt/Equity < 0.5 ✕
- Pretax margin > 15% ✓
- EPS growth (5yr) > 7% ✓
- Interest coverage > 5x ✕
- Trading below intrinsic value (DCF) ✓
- Price vs. owner earnings < 25x ✓
Lynch looked for growth stories that weren't overpriced for that growth, and MS falls short of his bar. In its favor: MS is growing earnings 20-50% a year, his classic fast-grower zone, isn't asking too much even by a fast grower's usual richer multiple, and is generating real cash to back up a fast grower's higher price tag. Where it comes up short: MS doesn't clear the tighter PEG bar a fast grower needs to justify its pace, and is leaning on more debt than he liked a growth story to carry.
- PEG < 1 (stricter for fast growers) ✕
- EPS growth 20%-50% ✓
- Debt/Equity < 0.5 ✕
- P/E < 40 ✓
- Price/FCF < 40 ✓
Quantitative approximations of each investor's documented approach, not endorsed by either investor or their estates - commentary, not this site's actual ranking criteria. Buffett never published a numeric checklist: only 2 of his 8 checks here trace to his own documented concepts ("owner earnings," from his 1986 shareholder letter, and "price is what you pay, value is what you get," his case against fixed P/E/P/B ceilings) - the other 6 (ROE, debt, margins, growth, interest coverage) use commonly-cited thresholds that are not numbers he himself published. The 8 hard filters below (plus the Munger check and Graham margin of safety) are this site's real, mechanical screen and are computed completely independently of the checklists above.
Berkshire Hathaway's own filing
Which of the 8 value filters does Morgan Stanley pass?
- Market Cap > $25B $287.8B
- Trailing P/E < 25 14.07
- PEG Ratio < 1.5 1.37
- Price/Book < 8 2.47
- Price/Sales < 7 2.20
- EPS Growth YoY > -5% +8.1%
- vs 50-day MA (±12%) -8.8%
- vs 200-day MA (±12%) -5.3%
What is Morgan Stanley's margin of safety?
A standard free-cash-flow DCF doesn't fit how financial services companies report cash flow.
Where is Morgan Stanley in its 52-week range?
What is the short interest in Morgan Stanley?
14,606,885 shares short as of 2026-09-30 (FINRA settlement date). Reported twice a month, so this only changes roughly every two weeks, not daily.
What could go wrong with Morgan Stanley? Munger's inversion check
"Invert, always invert." Instead of reasons to buy, these are reasons to hesitate, not a verdict, and not everything worth knowing about a business.
- Margin of safety, even in the bull case n/a (Financial Services)
- Short interest under 5% of float 1.2%
- Passes most of the 6 fundamental filters 6/6 passed
Doesn't cover circle of competence, management quality, or accounting concerns: those need judgment, not data.
How much have Morgan Stanley shareholders gained per year?
Earnings growth per share plus dividend.
An earnings-based proxy, not a stock-price total return - it doesn't capture multiple expansion/contraction or reinvested dividends. EPS from MS's own 10-K filings; dividend yield is the current trailing yield on today's price, from the same weekly fetch as the rest of this site.
What do Morgan Stanley's 10-year financials show?
From MS's own 10-K filings (SEC EDGAR): up to the last 10 fiscal years. Press any year's bars for the exact figures.
Frequently asked questions about Morgan Stanley
What kind of company is Morgan Stanley?
Morgan Stanley is an investment bank and wealth manager: it advises on deals, trades securities and manages client assets through a very large network of financial advisors. Brands and businesses it owns include E*Trade, Eaton Vance and Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. This site groups it with Financial Services stocks.
Why does Morgan Stanley have no margin of safety on this site?
This site's DCF values a company from its free cash flow, and that does not fit financial companies, whose operating cash flow swings with client money, loans and trading rather than with what is left over for owners. So MS gets no margin of safety; judge it on the other checks on this page, such as its filters, shareholder yield and ranking against its peers. The method is in the Intrinsic Value Calculator.
How many of this site's 8 value filters does Morgan Stanley pass?
MS passes 8 of 8. It passes Market Cap > $25B ($287.8B), Trailing P/E < 25 (14.07), PEG Ratio < 1.5 (1.37), Price/Book < 8 (2.47), Price/Sales < 7 (2.20), EPS Growth YoY > -5% (+8.1%), vs 50-day MA (±12%) (-8.8%) and vs 200-day MA (±12%) (-5.3%). The 8-filter list shows every stock that passes all of them.
Does Morgan Stanley pass the Buffett-style and Lynch-style checklists?
On this site's Buffett-style checklist MS clears 6 of 8 checks and leans no; it misses Debt/Equity < 0.5 and Interest coverage > 5x. On the Lynch-style checklist it clears 3 of 5 and leans no, with Fast Grower as its Lynch category; it misses PEG < 1 (stricter for fast growers) and Debt/Equity < 0.5. These are this site's own rules written in the style of each investor, not their personal views; the rules are in the Editorial Standards.
How much cash does Morgan Stanley return to shareholders?
MS's net shareholder yield is +1.6%: the cash it returns through dividends and buybacks, minus stock-based compensation, as a share of its market value. Latest fiscal year (2025): dividends 2.3% + buybacks 0.0% − stock comp 0.7%, as a share of today's market cap. Over 14 years its split-adjusted share count fell 5%. Its trailing dividend yield is 2.36%, paid out of 30% of its free cash flow; the dividend-sustainability check raises 2 of 6 flags (high leverage and weak interest coverage). See Shareholder Yield Leaders and the Sustainable Dividend Screener.
How fast has Morgan Stanley grown its revenue and profit?
From fiscal 2016 to fiscal 2025, MS's revenue grew from $7.0 billion to $59.1 billion, 26.7% a year. Net income went from $6.0 billion to $16.9 billion, and its net profit margin from 85.2% to 28.5%. Earnings per share went from $3.17 to $10.59 on today's share count, 14.3% a year. All figures are from MS's own 10-K filings (SEC EDGAR) and are shown year by year in the 10-Year Financials section of the card above.
Where do these numbers come from?
- Financial statements: Morgan Stanley's 10-K annual report for the year ended Dec 31, 2025, filed Feb 19, 2026 (filing index). Every earlier year in the 10-year financials comes from the company's older 10-K filings, all listed on SEC EDGAR.
- Prices and market data: quotes, P/E and analyst ratings from Finnhub; daily price history and the 52-week range from Twelve Data, both refreshed weekly. Short interest comes from FINRA, reported twice a month.
- How to check a figure: click any number in the card above to see its exact source, and read the Editorial Standards for every rule behind the checks.
About this Morgan Stanley analysis
This page shows every value-investing check the site runs on Morgan Stanley (MS) in one place: the 8 mechanical filters, the Buffett and Lynch checklists, a margin of safety from a disclosed DCF, earnings quality, shareholder yield and how it ranks against its sector peers. The numbers come from SEC filings and public market data, refreshed weekly, and the same rules apply to every stock on the stock list. See Editorial Standards for the sources and the rules, or run your own filters in the stock screener.